Maelstrom
by Maelstrom51210
Summary: After the defeat of Ferahgo, Urthwyte and all of Mossflower must face a new enemy: Maelstrom, the pirate ermine from the Land of Ice and Snow.
1. The North Raiders

Part 1 The North Raiders.

"Look upon me, ye mighty, and tremble" –Percy Shelley "Ozymandius"

Across the dark seas rode a ship, the most feared ship in the Land of Snow and Ice. It was tar black with double mast and white and red striped sails. A golden figure head in the shape of a snarling dragon decorated the prow of the ship. A small golden plaque on the side told the ship's title. Her name was the "Sharkblood"!

The air around the ship smelt of pure evil. But it was not the ship itself. It was the white vermin on the black boat. The "Sharkblood's" crew consisted of ermine, arctic foxes, sables, snow and grey rats, and one fat albino wolverine. They were all cutthroats, armed to the teeth with sickle swords, axes, spears, clubs and other assorted nastiness.

Two sables were resting on the deck, one being an incredibly fat and one-eyed specimen and the other being a short and twitchy red-shirted one. The fat one poked his partner with a rapier, a weapon totally unsuited for him as he lacked even the smallest amount of elegance and skill. "Hey, Ajo, lookit duh boss". Ajo slapped the sword away. "Shut up, Snotty! He'll hear yew. And you know what happened to Glickwort."

"Duh Boss" was elegantly perched on the ship's masthead. He was an ermine, incredibly suave and handsome. He was dressed in a blue long coat that was yellow inside, with a red cape around his shoulders and a tricorn hat placed neatly on his head. Under his coat were a chainmail tunic and a black leather baldric. The ermine's eyes were dark brown and glittered like twin jewels. However, his most notable feature was the leather coverings worn over the tips of his tail, tips of his paws, and snout. The teeth and claws were replaced by sharp black iron hooks. Despite his attractiveness, he had the most evil and black heart of his species. His name was Maelstrom .K. Ermine.

Maelstrom and his crew of North Raiders had fled from their homeland when real trouble started to brew and the pickings became slim. All these beasts were murderers of the worst caliber, prone to wiping out entire villages, and eating the victims. For many seasons Maelstrom was almost king of the Land of Ice and Snow.

Maelstrom turned around and looked at Snotty. The sable could not help but stare at the dead brown eyes, whose pinpoint pupils showed not a hint of emotion. It was like staring into the eyes of a shark just before it eats you. "You know I can hear you, Snotty" said the ermine in a smooth, light voice. "Yes, sir" replied Snotty. The rest of the crew could not help but gather. The ermine had an almost magnetic charisma.

Maelstrom looked at nearby snow rat. "Weteye, have you seen anything?" he asked. Weteye saluted. "Yes sir" replied the rat. "I haves seen a mountain". Maelstrom raised an eyebrow. "A mountain, you say? That means land". Maelstrom looked around at his crew. "Friends, prepare to dock. We're going to pay this mountain a little visit"

It was the coldest winter Mossflower had ever seen, thought Urthwyte the Mighty as he hammered diligently on the shield he was making. All around the mountain of Salamandastron, snow and ice had covered the ground in thick layers. Because of this all travel had come to a stop, due to the danger of freezing to death. _At least, _thought the Badger lord, _Vermin won't be attacking innocent woodlanders as much_. Just then, one of Urthwyte's trusty hares, Sergeant Sapwood, walked in the Badgerlord's room. There was a worried look on the boxing hare's face. "Sah," he said, "There's been reports of a vermin ship. A bally big one at that!" Urthwyte nodded as he grabbed his massive oak club. "If there's a vermin ship out there, then let's be ready"

**To be Continued...**


	2. The Coast Patrols

Oh dear! This has been the coldest winter since the time of Martin the Warrior! As I write, the dibbuns are out playing in the snow. Mara sure has her paws full. Did you know that an entire crowd of the little scamps brought in a huge mound of snow inside the Great Hall and had a snowball fight? Poor Thrugg had to mop the floor all night! I wish that I could enjoy the snow like that, but alas, I've grown old, and my joints can't stand the cold. Actually, most of the older beast have had problems with the cold. I guess that's part of life. But if there's anything to be said about this cold is that we at Redwall abbey have seen hardly any outsiders. It must be that the cold is making it hard to travel. But now I have to leave. It is almost time for us to plan for the Winter Nameday"

-Vale, Abbess of Redwall

* * *

The old mouse sighed as she rose from her desk. Vale had gotten older since Ferahgo's attack on Salamandastron. It was hard to believe it was only five seasons ago. As the Abbess walked out of her room, she was greeted by the sight of a grinning young dormouse. "Ah, Dumble, you look cheerful today" said Vale. "Of course! It's almost time for Nameday!" replied Dumble. "Oh, Dumble, you haven't changed a bit. I promise you that Nameday will come soon. I just need to choose the best date. Now why don't you run along? I've heard that Mister Thrugg needs some help loading up on fire wood." "Yes, Ma'am!". And at that, the young dormouse sped off. Abbess Vale hummed contentedly. It was going to be a long, cold winter, but the Abbey was safe and full of happy creatures

"Oy, Sap ol' lad, what's this I've heard of pirates 'round the coast?" It was lunchtime at Salamandastron and Big Oxeye was with his friend Sergeant Sapwood. "H'i'm 'fraid it's true, o'l chap. Saw the blighters 'round the west coast. Weird lookin' ship too. I reckoned it was covered in some kind o' tar." th Sergeant was saying. "Huh, I bet Lord Urthwyte's gonna send some kind of patrol, wot?" replied Oxeye. As if right on cue, the white badger lord strolled into the cafeteria. "My good hares, I have an announcement..." he said. "Bingo" said Oxeye. "...Pirates have been spotted near Salamandastron. I will be arranging patrols to keep track of these pirates until we know of their intentions. Private Ffolger!" "Yes, Sah!" It was Pikkle. He had recently become a private of the Long Patrol. "I need you to deliver a warning of pirates to Redwall. If this gets out of hand, Redwall needs to be prepared. I'm choosing you because you know the to Redwall best..." At this the badger lord winked. "...and because of your connection to a certain inhabitant" "Oh, top-notch sah! I haven't seen ol' Mara in forever! 'Tis 'bout blinkin' time I saw the ol' gel!" blurted out Pikkle. Oxeye noticed Sapwood sigh and put his face in his paw at the young private's hijinks. Urthwyte simply smiled "Ah, I love it when a hare is willing to carry out his duties. Now, you'll need to stock up on food and warm clothes. Oh, and weapons. There might not be many vermin out, but you can never be too prepared." he said. "Now, all of you, the first patrol will be Corporal Ivyvine, Sergeant Whitescut, Windfur and Oak, if you see any strange occurences, report back immediately". As the four hares arranged their patrol, Urthwyte stepped out of the dining hall.

Maelstrom leaned against the deck railing, the cold wind blowing through his with and grey fur. He loved the feeling of cold sea air. Just as he was starting to relax, his burly first mate, Varka the albino wolverine walked up to him. "What is it, Varka?" inquired Maelstrom monotonously. "Capitan, Slickback reports see'n a patrol of some, uh, rabbit things 'long duh coast." stuttered the wolverine. The ermine captain rose into a straight position. "Ah, yes. So, someone really does live in that mountain. Do you know what that means?" The wolverine stared vacantly at his captain. "...no." Maelstrom sighed as he replied "It means we're going to visit them. Or is even that too complex for your mind to wrap around?" "Yes" was the reply. "We're going to kill them all. I swear Varka, if I wasn't around you would have died from not knowing how to breathe a long time ago. *Sigh*, tell Skulldash and Dirty to do some surveillance. We need to find the best way to kill those rabbits. Right, Varka?" said Maelstrom. "Duh, yeah, yeah" giggled the wolverine. Maelstrom smirked at the moving figures in the distance. Tonight was going to be a slaughter.

_**Yo, Maelstrom51210 here. I'm going to try to update this thing every week. This is not a promise, so if I don't, please don't kill me. Also, It would be nice if someone reviewed. If you see any problems, just scream at me and I'll try to fix them. But, please be aware that this if my first story on Fanfiction, so please keep the criticism constructive. Thanks! (:**_


	3. Dear Badger Lord

_**Warning! This chapter may contain elements disturbing to the young or faint hearted. Viewer discretion is advised.**_

Corporal Ivyvine was a tough hare, not given to fear. As he shouldered his pike, he noticed a scrawny leveret struggling to carry his weapon. "Oi, Oak, ol' boy, are ye havin troubles wi' yer pike?" asked the older hare, his eye twinkling through the monocle that sat above his finely trimmed mustache. "No, sah, It's just this blinkin ice! It shouldn't be this cold!" replied the young hare. "Ach, get used to, me lud, tis goin ta be cold all winter" said another hare with a prominent scar on his nose. This was Sergeant Whitescut. He was a buff veteran of the war against Ferahgo. As the hares reached the shore, they settled down. Windfur, a tall female started to light a fire.

The hares were roasting oat scones when young Oak began to panic. "I smell…I-I smell vermin" "Oh, hush. You're probably smellin' the bally oatscones" came the answer from Windfur. "Wait, ol' gel', I think I see somethin' in the bushes!" said Ivyvine. "Come out, ya bounders!" he commanded. Sure enough, two ermine came out. One was tall and clad in a leather and fur jacket. Around his head was a chainmail hood, with a blue bandana covering his snout. The other was shorter, but fearsome with a short beard, hand axe, and fur cloak. "Ugly lookin' couple, aren't they?" remarked Whitescut. "Ya shaddap, rabbit! Unless, ya want ta 'ear from me, ma' man Skulldash o'er 'ere, an' teh rest a' da crew!" snarled the shorter one. "Who you callin' a rabbit, mange face?!" shouted Whitescut. "I would suggest you stay silent before the capitan comes" whispered the tall ermine. "Oh, who's this 'Capitan' yer talking about, vermin?" raged the sergeant, who pulled out his saber. "That would be me" came the monotone reply. Startled, Whitescut came face to face with the infamous Maelstrom. "Hmm, only four of you? That won't leave much of a supper, will it?" he continued. "Cuz'! That un' was threatenin' me an' Skulldash! How bout ya chop 'im up?" asked the short ermine giddily. Just then, Corporal Ivyvine leaped between Maelstrom and Whitescut. "Sah, under the authority of the Badger lord of Salamandastron, we will take you under custody, wot?" he shouted valiantly. "You and what army?" asked Maelstrom as more North Raiders began to swarm the hare brigade. The ermine captain simply smirked.

Urthwyte was worried. He had sent out a brigade of hare hours ago, and they still hadn't returned. The badger lord was thinking about sending another brigade to find the other. As he was trying to make up his mind, Urthwyte stepped outside the mountain. At his feet, he saw the most horrific sight.

The corpse of Corporal Ivyvine was heavily mutilated. The arms and ears had been cleanly sliced off with a razor sharp implement. The eyes were gouged out. Fresh blood died the white snow an almost beautiful ruby color. Urthwyte winced at the sight. Who, or what, could do this to another creature? It seemed as though Ivyvine had died recently, as if he had walked over to Salamandastron and died from exhaustion and blood loss. As he looked closer, the albino badger lord noticed a note shoved into the cadaver's mouth. After he gingerly removed it, Urthwyte noticed that it read, in fine handwriting:

Dear Badger lord,

As you've seen, I have noticed the hare patrols you have sent along the coast. This is a most egregious insult. Because you have so mocked my intellect and power, I have decided to attack you in two days. The attack will be from the eastern side of the mountain when the sun is at its zenith.

I bid you good day,

-Capt. Maelstrom .K. Ermine

Urthwyte was dumbstruck. First, this vermin skulks around Salamandastron, and then they attack, without provocation, a brigade of noble hare? And then they have the gall to warn him, Urthwyte the Mighty, about there own attack? The badger lord couldn't take it. The red mist filled Urthwyte's eyes as he began to roar. And it travelled throughout the land, like the death screams of some divine being.

At the North Raider camp, songs of celebration were sung as the bloodthirsty murderers gathered around a great iron pot filled with stew crafted from the remains of the dead hares. As vermin piled around the pot, scooping the gruesome food into stone bowls, Maelstrom watched the anarchy with his lieutenants. The short ermine, Dirty, was chuckling into his bowl. "Gee, Cuz', ya shore showed those rabbits a lissin!" Varka, the first mate, was also laughing. "Ya, remember that bigun's face when ye chopped off 'is nose? Harr Harr!" Maelstrom stayed emotionless, even though ,deeply inside, he was also enjoying himself. Maelstrom's bosun, a white fox named Blackjack, looked at his captain confusedly. "Sire, why'd ya send a note to the badger? 'E's goin' ta know when we're goin' ta attack." "Ah, Blackjack, my good fox, he's only going to assume where and when we're going attack. He'll be met by a small force when he expects us to come, but then the rest of us are going to attack from the opposite direction! It will be like a great clamp" replied Maelstrom. Blackjack seemed enlightened by his leader's word. "Oh, oh, I see. Damn, capitan, yer the smartest beast in the world!".

Just then, a sable ran up to them with a frightened look on his face. "Capitan! One o' the slaves 'as escaped! 'Twas zat li'l mouse with teh missin' toe! I tried to catch 'im but 'e was slippery what like a greased eel!" he babbled. Maelstrom stood up and patted the sable on the back as he walked him over to the stew pot. "Now, now, Slickback," he purred comfortingly. "It's not like I'm going to use you in one of my experiments. Here, have some stew". At that, the ermine pushed the hapless Slickback's head into the hot stew. It bubbled and sucked horribly as the other North Raiders watched in disgust and fear. After the sucking stopped, Maelstrom allowed the carcass to slide into the stew as he proclaimed in the same dead voice "And that is what happens to fools and idiots. Now, if any of you see the mouse with a missing toe, capture him and bring him back to me. If he escapes from you, you might end up like old Slickback…or worse! Now, enjoy the rest of your stew." The crew was too horrified to respond.

Cold…cold…That was all the young mouse could think. The mouse had escaped the monsters, but now what? He was stuck in the freezing blizzard with nowhere to go. Was he going to die in the snow and ice? At least it was a better way to die than at the paws of the ermine. At least he wouldn't suffer the same fate as his brother. But wait…was that light? Yes! It was light! A warm, flickering light! The mouse felt tears forming and freezing in his eyes as he began to black out. The last conscious thing he heard was the sound of "I say, chaps, what's this over here?"

_**Wow, that was dark. What will happen the the mystery mouse? Will Salamandastron survive the battle? What will happen to Redwall? Find out soon, and please review.**_


	4. Frozen

Pikkle shivered against the thick white cloak Urthwyte had provided him with. The sergeant wasn't kidding when he warned about the cold! The hare sighed as he pulled out an apple from his haverstack and bit into. "GAAH! COR BLIMEY! I'VE BROKEN MY BLEEDIN' TEETH O LACKADY!" Pikkle danced wildly in pain before hastily pulling out a tankard of strawberry cordial and tipping it into his open mouth. It was frozen solid. Pikkle looked astounded. The tankard dropped to the floor. "Ah, dear! Me food's a flippen ice cube and me drink's as hard as a rock! Ooooh, forget vermin invaders, sah, this poor hares gonna die of starvation, wot wot! Blimey, now its startin' to snow" the hare complained as a blizzard started to storm. "If yer so hungry, then why did ya decide ta take a stroll out in the cold" came a voice out of nowhere. Pikkle leapt up, grabbed a long dagger and shouted "Ah, ya bounder! Uh, drop your weapon and yield! Especially if yore a vermin!". "I'm no vermin, silly rabbit." A fat squirrel jumped from a nearby tree and held out his paw. "Greetins', me names Traggler. I sees that yer a weary traveler" he said. Pikkle grabbed the squirrel's paw and began to shake it wildly. "Pleased ta meet ya, Traggler ol' chap! I'm Pikkle, private of the Long Patrol, wot?" he said. " Slow down, buddy. Ya seem cold. 'Ow 'bout ya stay at my place?" replied Traggler. "That would be top-notch old bean! Say, ya got any non-frozen vittles?" said Pikkle. "Sure thing, mate. Sure thing" replied the squirrel.

Back at Salamandastron, Sergeant Sapwood was also out in the cold when a small group of hares marched passed carrying a stretcher. "Say there, what are ya carryin', chaps?" asked Sapwood. One young hare looked nervously at the sergeant. "Sah, we've found this mouse out in the snow, and we're carrying him in, sah!" he replied. Sapwood let them pass. He could see a blizzard start to stir up, and hoped that young Pikkle was alright. Just then, Big Oxeye walked up to Sapwood. "It's time for me to relieve your duty, wot?" said Oxeye. "Ah, thank you, m'lud. Tis freezin' out here" replied a relieved Sapwood. " Say, Sap, did ya hear about Lord Urthwyte yesterday?" aked Oxeye. The sergeant nodded. "Aye, I heard he went berserk after he found what happened to ol' Whitescut. Tis the deadly Bloodwrath, I tell ya. Remember when ol' Urthstripe would get those fits?" "Ya, he could kill a dozen score vermin before tea, but I remember 'twas one of the few times I could truly feel scared for m' life" replied Oxeye. Sergeant Sapwood then walked inside the mountain while Oxeye took his place. The big hare grabbed the un-opened tankard that Sapwood had left and began to drink from it. "Ah! Why is it frozen?!"

Perhaps the only place in Mossflower that wasn't freezing was the abbey of Redwall. Samkim the squirrel was resting near the fire with his friend Arula the mole. "Burr oye, Samkin, be you zleepin'?" asked Arula. "What? No! I was just…closing my eyes" replied her squirrel friend. "Hurr, peraps you en Oi shudd go outsoid" replied the mole. As the two friends headed toward the door, they ran into Redwall's guardian, Mara, and the otter Thrugg. "Oh, greetings, Mara, Thrugg" said Samkim. " Oh, hey Samkim. Boy, li'l Dumble sure was a headache. He kept tryin' to help gather firewood. The li'l guy kept trippin' over the logs" said the Thrugg. Mara nodded. "He's getting to be quite the rambunctious scamp, isn't he?" she said. "Any news from Salamandastron?" asked Samkim. "No, they're probably also having road troubles" replied the badgermum.

"I say, this scoff is top-notch, wot wot?" said Pikkle as he snarfed down a blackberry pie. "Oh my, Traggler, yew sure brought in a mighty hungry beast!" said Traggler's wife, Riltrig. "That he is, my li'l sugar muffin" cooed Traggler. A little girl squirrel popped from behind a corner. "Papa, wazzat?" she asked timidly. Traggler picked up the little squirrel and rubbed her on the head. "This is mister Pikkle, Lils. Pikkle, this is me daughter Pondlily. Ain't she cyoooot?" the fat squirrel said. "Ah, yes, sah. Adorable" replied Pikkle, who was more interested in an onion pastie. "So, mister Pikkle, why've you been trampin' out in this 'orrid weather?" asked Riltrig. "I need to… *crunch*… go to Red…* Om nom nom*… Wall to alert th… *Burp*… Oh, excuse me…To alert them of vermin" said Pikkle while he continued to shove food in his mouth. Traggler sat up quickly. "Vermin?! Redwall?! We gotta go!" he shouted as he grabbed the hare by the ears and ran out the door. "Be safe, honey!" Riltrig cried.

The arctic fox Icefang wearily sheathed his bow. He and a few other North Raiders had spent all day looking for the runaway mouse. As the tall fox got closer to the camp, he noticed his captain looking over the crew doing military exercise. As Icefang walked closer to the captain he began to salute. "No sign of the mouse?" asked Maelstrom without even glancing in the fox's direction. "No capitan. 'E must've died during teh blizzard" replied Icefang. "Hmm. I will continue to send out patrols until we have found him or we know for certain he is dead. Now, go find me Dirty, he's the best tracker" said Maelstrom. Icefang saluted before running off. Maelstrom sighed. His plan was flawless. Soon, the mountain would be his, and he would have plenty of prisoners to continue his experiments on. A pity, that mouse was going to be his next victim. The ermine smirked as he walked over to the iron pot where he killed Slickback. Deciding he was hungry, Maelstrom grabbed a bowl and ladle to dine upon the stew. As he scooped the stew, he noticed a problem. "Frozen…" said Maelstrom .K. Ermine with a small frown on his face.

_**Please Review.  
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	5. Ramminov

The mouse was beginning to stir. He opened his eyes. Where was he? He was on a bed in a room made of rock. It was warm inside. Was there another creature in there? "Lord Urthwyte, sah, he's starting to awake" came a voice. Yes! Another creature! The mouse strained his eyes. It seemed to be a hare. Suddenly, the mouse's vision was filled with the sight of a great white beast. Its eyes were dark pink. "Hello?" it asked. "Are you okay?"

Urthwyte blinked at the mouse lying in the medical cot. He was light gray and emaciated. After gaining no reply from the mouse Urthwyte again asked "Are you okay?" The mouse groaned a little before replying softly 'I…I…I think". Satisfied, Urthwyte asked another question. "What is your name?" "…Ramminov" the mouse replied. The hare in the room with Urthwyte walked up to the mouse. " I say, ol' chap, you shouldn't stayed out in the cold, wot?" ."That'll, be good, Bart" replied Urthwyte. Bart Thistledown grunted. "Hmm, well, I better take over the patrollin' duty from Oxeye. Gotta keep an eye out fer what's 'is face, Hailstorm or Maelstrom or…" "MAELSTROM?!" screamed Ramminov. "Nonononono NOT HIM!" The mouse continued to flail about for a few minutes before settling down to a shiver. "What do you know about Maelstrom?" asked Urthwyte after Ramminov calmed down. "I...I...I only know as much as a beast can about…that…that ermine. He came down upon us, my family. He killed everyone…everyone except me and my brother…We were taken on his ship where those…monsters…those…demons enslaved us. Then one day, he came down for my brother, took him. They say he tortured my brother…preformed sick experiments…I never saw my brother again… I escaped as soon as I could but was stuck in a blizzard. I barely survived" Said the mouse. "About his past? Nobeast knows. They say he was born in the most northern parts of the Land of Ice and Snow. They say that he killed his own parents before going out to find more beasts to satisfy his bloodlust. But these are only rumors". Urthwyte was deeply troubled. Was this ermine as bad as the mouse said? He was coming the next day. Would Salamandastron be prepared? Urthwyte felt an unfamiliar feeling. It was fear.

Pikkle and Traggler were not in a good way. It was night, and another blizzard had started up. "Well, this is just peachy" said the hare sarcastically. His companion however, was not as calm. "GAAH! We'll BE FROZEN SOLID BY NOOOOOOONTIIIIIIIIIDE! NEVER AGAIN WILL I SEE MY DAUGHTER AND LOVELY WIIIIIIIIFE!" cried Traggler. "Pipe down, will ya? Screamin' won't stop this bally blizzard, wot wot?" replied Pikkle in an annoyed manner. "I CAN'T FEEL MY SKIN! OH, I CAN SEE THE LIGHT, PIKKLE!" continued the squirrel. Pikkle was about to insult Traggler when he too saw the light. It was a fire! And where fire was, other beast were! Pikkle walked towards the fire. "Hullo?" he asked "Anybeast around here?" Suddenly, Pikkle felt a sharp tip pressing against his neck. "Stop where you are and drop your weapon, rabbit!" snarled a nasally voice.

North Raiders hid deep into their tents as night and the blizzard rolled in. Dirty wrapped the thin blankets around him as the two sable that shared the tent with him, Snotty and Ajo, fought over a bottle of clear liquid. "Oy, Snot, gimme dat vodka! 'is mine drink!" growled Ajo. "Yer drink? A li'l squirt li' yew couldn't drink something like dis!" snarled his larger companion. Dirty was annoyed as he snatched the bottle from Snotty's grasp. "If yew beasts can't decide who'll have the vodka, then I'll take it" he said. And at that, Dirty downed the entire bottle. "See? Yew bleast can vodka the drink, hic" muttered Dirty. "Yew okay, mate?" asked a worried Ajo. "Naw, mate, I can drink day all vodka, cuz I'm the capitan's cuz…hic…Now I'm queasy, mates" Then, the ermine ran out the door. Ajo and Snotty heard crying outside the tent. "Think 'he's okay?" asked Snotty. "No" replied Ajo mournfully. Just then, their captain, followed by Blackjack and Skulldash walked into the tent. "Are any of you responsible for causing my cousin to stain the snow with his stomache acids?" asked Maelstrom. Snotty was about to reply when Ajo cried "Capitan! 'E drank the whole bottle o' vodka and we tried ta stop but he said nooooo!" Maelstrom shrugged. "When Dirty's done purging, tell him to get ready for tomorrow's invasion" he commanded before walking out. Both sables nodded heavily. "What are we goin ta do?" asked Snotty. "Shut up" replied Ajo.

Maelstrom smirked at his tent. He had to admit, his crew could be idiotic. But that didn't matter. Tomorrow, the mountain, Salamandastron, would be his, and he would have many victims to experiment on. Maelstrom sighed. Tomorrow, there would be a Badger Lord to kill.

_**Sorry for the late update. I've been really busy lately, and I've had some Writer's block. The next chapter will probably be late, too. But, at least the nexy chapter will be epic. Please review.**_


	6. Maelstrom's Attack!

Urthwyte the Mighty was ready. Dressed in his armor and carrying his war club, the albino Badger lord was surrounded by his Long Patrol. It had recently stopped snowing, but Salamandastron was still white with ice and snow. Sergeant Sapwood walked up to his lord. "Sah, when are they going to get here?" he asked. Urthwyte looked up. The sun was almost at its zenith. "Soon" he said. There was a crunching of foot prints behind them. Urthwyte and Sapwood turned and saw Big Oxeye and the mouse Ramminov walking towards them. Urthwyte raised an eyebrow at the pair. "Ramminov, why are you out here?" he asked. The mouse saluted. "Sir, even though I'm weak, I still want to avenge my brother, my homeland and myself from that monster" he replied. Urthwyte nodded. He could hear the sound of drums coming forward. The sun was at its zenith.

Huge mounds of snow were piled up near the western side of Salamandastron. Freezing rains had formed a hard, solid crust of ice around the snow. From behind one pile, Maelstrom poked out his head. The badger lord's army was positioned exactly as planned. Soon Whiteclaw would be arriving with the rest of the crew. There was movement behind the ermine. Icefang also poked out his head. "Capitan" the fox whispered " When are we going to be attacking?" "Soon" Maelstrom replied.

Urthwyte looked up and finally saw the North Raider army. It wasn't as large as the Corpsemaker army, but still formidable in size. Urthwyte snarled at the beast that seemed to be the leader. It was a huge, muscular ermine in a tattered cloak, wielding a massive sickle-sword. "Badger lord!" the ermine shouted "We have come to take this mountain from you!" "Only if can pry it from my cold, dead paws, Maelstrom" growled Urthwyte. The Badger lord then felt a slight tug on his paw. He looked down and saw Ramminov desperately trying to get his attention. "Sir, that's not Maelstrom!"

Icefang noticed the mouse talking to the Badger lord. At first unable to recognize the mouse, the fox soon realized it was the escaped captive. The fox quickly loaded his bow and fired an arrow at the mouse. It hit its target with a satisfying thunk. Suddenly, Icefang felt a sword on his back. "Icefang, you idiot" whispered Maelstrom behind his back. The ermine quickly raised his sword and sliced off the fox's tail. Icefang struggled not to yelp in pain. Maelstrom nodded, and then shouted to the North Raider at his back "Charge!"

"Ramminov!" Urthwyte dropped to his knees as he clutched the corpse of the mouse. An arrow had pierced the skull. Urthwyte began to weep, but Sergeant Sapwood stopped him. "Sah," said the hare "Another army is approaching from the west!" The Badger Lord immediately stood up and watched a wave of North Raiders attack the back of the Long Patrol army. "Sapwood! Quick, organize the troops at the back and make sure the front is also protected!" shouted Urthwyte. Sapwood saluted . "Yes, sah!" he said. The hare quickly ran off to support the troops. Urthwyte began to growl and snarl. The red mist began to cloud his vision again.

The fighting was intense. The arctic vermin slashed at the hare, who bravely fought back. Maelstrom smirked at the bloodshed. "Nice job, Ajo" he called to the sable, who had just dispatched a nearby hare. Maelstrom looked another way, and saw the badger killing North Raiders in masse. The ermine felt a surge of excitement surge from within him, though he did not show it. "Ajo, come with me" said Maelstrom. Ajo obeyed and walked behind his captain as the ermine moved toward the badger.

_**That took forever to update. Blame school. But now that I'm out for the summer, I should be able to update more frequently. Next chapter: Maelstrom versus Urthwyte! Yay! Who will win? Please review. (-: **_


	7. Battle for Salamandastron

The red mist was clearing. Urthwyte shook his head as his vision went back to normal. The albino Badger Lord looked around. He could see scores of dead vermin flung about the snow. _Did I do this? _the Badger Lord thought. All thoughts about the bloodwrath were forgotten when Urthwyte saw the ermine. He carried himself with such grace, especially when compared to the sable behind him, who tottered about like a three wheeled cart. The ermine seemed to notice Urthwyte also. Out of the corner of his eye, Urthwyte saw one of his hares fire an arrow at the ermine. Without looking, he grabbed the sable and used it as a shield to block the projectile. The sable gurgled horrifically before being dropped. The ermine walked toward the Badger Lord and smirked. "I take it you're the lord of this mountain" he said. Urthwyte nodded. "Go away, evil doer!" he snarled. The ermine seemed to chuckle as he pulled out his sword from within his long coat. It was a curved cutlass with a rat's skull serving at the hilt. "I am Maelstrom" said the ermine "And you shall be my next victim". Urthwyte roared as he and the ermine met in battle.

Samkin grasped his head. All was quiet in Redwall Abbey, but the squirrel still felt a burning headache bang inside his brain. "Samkin, are you okay?" asked Mara, who was nearby watching over dibbuns. Samkin nodded "It's just a head" he said. The squirrel got up and began to walk toward the abbey's main building. He stopped. "Mara" said Samkin "I think something bad is about to happen". Mara widened her eyes in worry. "If there's a problem, I'm sure Martin the Warrior will protect us" she said.

Sapwood gritted his teeth as more vermin approached. Swiftly swinging his pike, the hare knocked out a nearby rat. A fox leapt at Sapwood, but was stricken by the weapon's pointed end. Sapwood wiped his brow with a gloved paw. Turning, he saw the ermine Skulldash. "Ugly blighter, aren't you?" the hare muttered under his breathe. Skulldash attacked with his own pike. Sapwood deftly dodged the attack ad punched the ermine in the stomach. Skulldash showed no sign of pain. Before he could react, Sapwood was bodily thrown into a snow pile, and the ermine attacked again. The hare rolled out of the way and hit Skulldash with his pike. The ermine fell down into the snow.

Sapwood turned to see Big Oxeye and Bart Thistledown fighting the wolverine. While the beast was big, he was clumsy and slow. Oxeye was able to score an easy knockout with the butt of his pike. Sapwood was about to join his comrades when he was knocked back. Springing back up, the hare noticed that Skulldash had gotten back up. The hare and the masked ermine met pikes before they both noticed a lull in the battle. They soon found out why.

Urthwyte and Maelstrom both charged into the fray. Both beasts were locked in combat, the steel of the ermine's sword hitting the wood of the badger's club. Combatants on both sides fled to avoid getting injured by the two. Not all were lucky. As Urthwyte leaped at his opponent, Maelstrom ducked, causing the Badger Lord to land on a hapless sable. Maelstrom ran at his opponent, sword about to slash. Before the weapon could hit, Urthwyte grabbed the cutlass and wrench it from Maelstrom's grasp. The Badger Lord got up and tossed the sword aside. Maelstrom was not perturbed. As fast as lightning, the ermine produced a knife from within his coat and stabbed the badger. The blade was able to hit through an opening in Urthwyte's armor and sliced through the top of his shoulder to his waist. Urthwyte roared in pain and bloodwrath as he swung his club at Maelstrom. The ermine sailed through the air before landing in an exposed part of the icy ground.

Sapwood saw many of the North Raiders begin to panic. A nearby fox held up a piece of red clothe while yelling "Retreat! Retreat!" All the vermin began to retreat. They left their dead and wounded behind. Sapwood saw Big Oxeye limping toward him. "Did we win?" he asked. Sapwood shrugged. "They seem to be retreating, wot? But I have a feelin' they'll be back. In the meantime, we'll have to help Lord Urthwyte." Both hares began to walk toward their mountain and their lord.

Samkin's head had cleared up. While he no longer felt the pain, he still felt uneasy. He began to go down toward to the cellars to get a drink. On his way, he noticed a group of dibbuns giggling on the floor hiding things in their paws. Samkin smiled weakly. "Hey, what are you guys trying to hide?" he asked. Dumble was among the dibbuns, and he showed Samkin the object he was holding. "It's a snowball!" he said. Samkin laughed. Dibbuns and their snowballs! A small mouse dibbun explained "We're tryin' ta find the biggest snowball". "I think you'll be able to go outside. The snow is falling down as hard as it was" said Samkin. The dibbuns cheered as they all ran outside. Samkin smiled. The dibbuns helped to clear away his uneasiness.

A dark figure looked at the abbey of Redwall. Green eyes sized up the sandstone building with hunger. The beast heard the sound of young paws playing in the snow. Perfect. Only one was needed for his master's sacrifice. Only one was needed to herald the coming of the Black Sun.

* * *

_**Long Chapter is long. Gasp! What is this dark figure? Will the North Raiders return? Is Maelstrom still alive? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! You'll find out next chapter. Also, please review. Reviews fill me with joy and happiness. Thank you (:**_


	8. Aftermath

The moon was a blind eye that shown on the bent backs of four beasts wandering the corpse-strewn battlefield. One of them huddled near one of the bodies and called out "Mates! 'Ere's the capitan!"

"Oy, Dirty, yew tryin' ta wake up erreybeast on the mountain?" replied another angrily.

"Wait, Icefang, 'e said 'e found the capitan," Said another. The two other voices, Blackjack and Icefang joined Dirty in crouching over the prone body of Maelstrom.

"Come 'ere, Snotty!" called Dirty.

"Yis sir! ARGH!" cried the fat sable as he tripped over one of the cadavers. "Ah! I think I tripped over ol' Ajo!" he complained. "Shut up and get over 'ere!" hissed Blackjack. Snotty got back up and clumsily walked over to his companions.

"Think 'e's still alive, Blacky?" whimpered Snotty. The fox shrugged.

"'Ow the 'ell am I supposed to know? Icefang, you're the best at checking these kind 'o thing out, you see if 'e's dead or not" he said. Icefang nodded toward his superior. The detailed archer fox leaned over his captain's body and looked over it.

"Well, I think 'e's de-ARGH!". Dirty, Blackjack and Snotty looked in horror as their captain's claws shot up deeply into Icefang's chest cavity. The fox gurgled and screamed as Maelstrom ripped out something from his body. Icefang's bleeding body collapsed onto the snow. Maelstrom's eyes snapped open as he began to sit up. The other three North Raiders could not help but stare at the beating heart in Maelstrom's paw. Maelstrom turned to his crewmembers.

"…Stop staring and get me back to the ship" he said.

Pikkle knew he was in trouble. The nasally voice that belonged to the owner of the weapon continued to hiss "Well, are ye a vermin? Spit it out, yew!" Pikkle could see Traggler panic out of the corner of his eye. The squirrel was flopping about and seemingly screaming, even though no sound was heard because of the wind.

"Wassat squirrel tryin ta say?" asked the voice.

"E's tryin ta tell yew that yer threaten in a hare" came another voice. Pikkle felt the sharp point come off his back. A tall shrew came into the hare's view. He was an old shrew, with a colored headband and spike head fur. The shrew held out a paw towards Pikkle.

"Sorry, mate," he said. "Fluggo has always been a bit paranoid. Me name's Logalog Bud, leader o' the Guosim shrews". Pikkle shook the Logalog's hand.

"Guosim? Would you happen to be related to the Guosssim?" asked the hare. Logalog chuckled.

"Gousssim? Yeah, those guys are a splinter group from around Salamandastron. Speaking of which, why's a Long Patrol member runnin' 'round these parts in this weather?"

"There's a vermin army attacking Salamandastron, and I was sent to warn Redwall" replied Pikkle. Logalog nodded grimly.

"The Gousim might be able to take you there, but only if you do us a favor" he said.

Sergeant Sapwood knocked on the door of the infirmary. Looking inside, he saw a sleeping Urthwyte being cared for by a hare nurse. After the battle, the Badger Lord fell unconscious from blood loss. The nurse saw Sapwood.

"Come in" she said. Sapwood walked inside and saw an array of medical tools on a nearby bed stand.

"Is he going to be okay, Whiteflower?" Sapwood asked. The hare nurse nodded.

"I'm bally sure he'll be okay, but these wounds'll take some time to heal, wot? Besides, check what the blighter stabbed him with" said Whiteflower while producing a small bladed object from a medical bag and handing it to Sapwood. The sergwant took a good long look at it before handing it back to the nurse with a confused look on his face. "It's a scalpel" explained Whiteflower. "It's a surgical knife. But what kind of beast attacks others with blinkin' medical tools?" Sapwood could only shrug at this question.

"Maybe…" he began, but was interrupted when a leveret ran in with an urgent look on his face.

"Sah! Someone's been at the battlefield! And one of the bodies are missing!"

The night had shown and all the young abbey beast had gone back inside. The dark watcher cursed to himself. His master would be displeased. But wait, what's this? A gate left unclosed? One of the young ones must have gone outside and never closed the door. The dark watcher crawled through the door. In! The beast looked about. There was a faint light coming from a window on the bottom floor of the main building. The room was probably a dormitory. The dark watcher squirmed through the window under cover of dark and crawled under a bed. It watched.

The day had been fun for the dibbuns. They had played in the snow all day. There were snowball fights, snow forts, ice skating on the frozen pond, and even a snow sculpture of Martin the Warrior. Young Dumble thought happily back to earlier. He had personally been in charge of the snow Martin's creation. It had taken almost all the snow in the Abbey courtyard, so some dibbuns snuck outside one of the gates to gather more snow. Now that he thought about, Dumble couldn't remember whether they close the door or not, but he was sure one of the older beast had saw the door and closed it. Speaking of which, one of the sisters of the abbey walked in and commanded the dibbuns to go to bed. Dumble crawled into his as the lantern was put out. But he couldn't sleep. He felt that an alien presence was in the room. Dumble got up. The next thing he knew was a giant sack closing over him.

_**Sorry if this came out a little late. I've had both writer's block and distractions (*CoughcoughSkyrimcough*), but I'll try to get back on schedule, so please review!**_


	9. The Dark Kingdom

Part 2- The Dark Kingdom

The dark beast trampled through the snow, hoisting the squirming sack containing the young dormouse over his back. The strange beast looked around, his eyes finally settling on an oak tree that was twisted like a deformed leg. The beast crouched beneath and opened a rock door. It crouched down into the black void beneath. A pitch black tunnel twisted and curled inside. The beast knew the way trough, and he trampled through the tunnel until he reached a single lamp. Another beast came up.

"Shaggoth," the newcomer hissed.

"Mrohon," replied the other. Both beasts stepped into the light. The original beast, Shaggoth, was a large rat dressed in black fatigues. Mrohon was a dark-furred fox dressed in similar clothing. Mrohon looked at the sack on the rat's back.

"Is that the sacrifice for the Rex?" asked the fox. Shaggoth nodded.

"Take me to the Rex. Take me to the Master," he said.

And so the two vermin continued down the tunnel. It lead to a deep cave, filled with stalactites and stalagmites that dripped with that stinking, filthy water. Rudimentary buildings were hewn from mud and stone and vermin with dark fur milled around dressed in the same black fatigues as Shaggoth and Mrohon. All around the dark kingdom were images of serpents, some as petroglyphs carved into the buildings and others as statues. At the farthest cave wall from the tunnel was a truly massive stone carving of a wide open snake mouth that guarded a small stone doorway. Shaggoth and Mrohon walked inside the opening. Inside was filled with a dark green mist that swirled around a throne covered in snake motifs. Seated on the throne was a dark being wrapped in a dark cloak, the only visible feature a glint of dark goggles.

"Shaggoth," it hissed in a threatening nasal voice "Did you find a sacrifice?" Shaggoth bowed down to the being.

"Yes, Master," groaned the rat as the sack containing Dumble was thrown heavily towards his master. The being poked around at the sack and laughed loudly.

"I see you have brought a young one from that accursed abbey. Perfect. He will be a most…excellent…sacrifice. Ahahahahah!"

Pikkle and Traggler had just reached the Gousim camp with Logalog.

"Ah, so I see your problem, wot?" commented Pikkle. All around the frozen River Moss shrews were trying in vain to break the ice to sail with their log boats. Logalog turned to the hare and squirrel.

"Terrible, ain't it? While the river is frozen, we can't travel by boat, and travel by land would be suicide. If you guys can find a way to partially unthaw the river, then we'll give ya a free ride to Redwall," he said. Pikkle looked around the river, at the shrews, and at Traggler. The squirrel had a determined expression on his face.

"Traggler, old bean, are ye thinkin' of somethin'?" asked the hare. The squirrel slowly nodded.

"Yeah. I can think of a method that me great-great-great-granduncle used long ago up north when a similar problem happened. Quick, come with me, and bring lots of wood," said Traggler.

There was much pessimism on the _Sharkblood_. Not only had the North Raiders lost the battle, but their captain was also missing. Some beasts muttered darkly about how they saw the ermine get hit by the badger's massive club and how no beast could survive that. Because of this there was a crisis in leadership among the pirates. It was voted that Varka and Skulldash should act as co-captains until Blackjack, Dirty, Icefang and Snotty came back with the report. Currently the two co-captains were addressing their fellow North Raiders.

"Duh, fellow pirates, today we must address the…the…um…" began Varka.

"State of the captaincy," corrected Skulldash.

"Yeah, that. Um, until the others return wi' teh Capitan, me and, uh, Skulldash will be acting as capitans and um…" continued the wolverine.

"We shall stay here until the search party returns with news. Until then, do as you usually would when the ship is beached," said Skulldash tersely. The other vermin began to dissipate while muttering in agreement. Just when they began to go about there business, a new voice called out:

"Nice job with the address, Skulldash, but I'm afraid that you and Varka's co-captaincy has revoked," All vermin turned towards the source of this new voice. It was Maelstrom, alive and well, one of his paws still covered in Icefang's blood. The ermine leaped onto the main deck and walked among the crowd. "Certainly you didn't truly believe I was dead, right? You beast should know that I could survive a little tossing like that," said Maelstrom. A short sable ran up to his captain.

"Capitan! What'll we do now?" he asked. Maelstrom simply leaped back on the platform before making his announcement.

"Friends, it has come to my attention that we as a crew have been decimated by those mountain hares. Thus, I propose we venture further inland to find more easy prey. Dirty, Skulldash, venture out to find a water route inland, such as a river. Barky, Barfer, you two are in charge of the rowers. Hangmun, you do the steering. And Varka…" Maelstrom looked at his first mate "…Next time, just let Skulldash do the talking, alright?" Varka saluted at his captain and began to run off before tripping. Maelstrom clapped his paw against his face.

Samkin woke up in a cold sweat. Panting, he thought to himself _what a horrible dream! _Nearby, Arula was woken up.

"Hurr, Sammikin, wot be troublin' yew?" she asked. Samkin turned towards his friend.

"I don't know Arula. I had this terrible nightmare. I dreamt that two great masses, a back one and a white one collided. I looked at the sky and the sun was gone, replaced by a big, black hole. Then I heard a voice, I think it was Martin, and he told me 'Watch for the black sun and the white and black terrors, Samkin,' I don't know what it means," he said. Arula nodded.

"Burr oi, Oi thinks that Martins tryin ta tell yew sumthin'" she replied. Samkin nodded.

"I guess your right. We'll just have to see what the future holds," said Samkin. Suddenly, one of the abbey sisters ran in with a distressed look on her face.

"Quick! Rouse the abbess!" she shrieked. "Dumble is missing!"

**_Please Review  
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	10. Where's Dumble?

All of Redwall was in a panic. The disappearance of Dumble left many questions. Where did he go? Was he kidnapped? If so, by whom? Who would they kidnap next? Abbey beast muddled around the Great Hall in panic.

"Calm down everyone! Listen to what the Mother Abbess has to say!" shouted Thrugg the otter. Old Abbess Vale walked up the pedestal and nodded at the big otter.

"Thank you Thrugg," she said. "Now I know that you are all worried. But now is not the time to panic. If we split into teams and investigate the entire abbey, then maybe we can find some clues. Any volunteers?" Many beasts raised their paws. Vale quickly counted them and smiled. "My, that's a lot. Good. Please come to my office with me. The meeting is dismissed," The volunteers followed Vale to her office.

Later that day many beasts were searching all over Redwall. Samkin and Arula were among them, and they were searching the dormitories.

"Do you see anything?" asked Samkin. Arula shook her head.

" Burr oi, nawt a flea," she said. Samkin grunted as he reached under one of the beds.

Huh, what's this?" the squirrel said. Bringing up his paw from under the bed, he showed Arula a tuft of dark fur. The mole maid examined it.

"Whoi. It beez rat's furr! We better show the others, hurr!" she exclaimed. The two beast ran out into the abbey courtyard, where they found Badgermum Mara and Thrugg examining the wall. Thrugg raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"Ahoy there, mates! What've ye got there?" the otter called. Samkin showed him the tuft.

"We found this hair under one of the beds in the dormitory. Arula thinks it's a rat's hair," he said. Mara walked up to Samkin and investigated the tuft.

"That's a rat's hair, alright. Back at Salamandastron they used to keep samples of various vermin fur so scouts could analyze any they found on the field. Hmm, Thrugg, do you think that this might be connected to what we found?" said Mara. The otter nodded darkly.

"Yeah. This could be bad," said Thrugg. Samkin looked at Mara and Thrugg.

"What did you two find?" he asked. Mara looked at Samkin.

"Come," she said. "We'll show you,"

Mara and Thrugg lead Samkin and Arula to a gate. It was unlocked and slightly opened. Samkin walked over to investigate it.

"It's open. Are you guys saying that somebeast snuck in and to Dumble?" he said. Mara nodded.

"Yes. We found it unlocked this morning the dibbuns must have left it unlocked last night, and that's how our rat got in," said the badger. Arula walked up to the doorway and examined it. Running her digging claws across the rough wood, she found another fur tuft.

"Wurr! Oi found anuther tuft!" she exclaimed. Samkin went over to her holding his tuft and compared the two.

"They're almost identical! Nice jog, Arula, now we have an idea of what happened. Quick, we need to find the abbess," said Mara as she ran towards the abbey's main building. The others followed her inside.

Maelstrom was waiting patiently for news while leaning on some of the ship's railing. Nearby, Snowmoon the healer fox was preparing poultices for her leader's injuries. As she placed one on Maelstrom's back, he snorted in disgust.

"Why do you insist on placing these disgusting objects on me?" asked Maelstrom. Snowmoon bowed.

"Sire, it will help you heal your injuries from the badger's club," said Snowmoon.

"Snowmoon, you of all beast should know that I am more than able to heal off such a petty wound without help from your potions," replied Maelstrom. The ermine turned his head away from the vixen. "Ah, look, Skulldash and Dirty have returned. What do you have to report?" he said. Skulldash bowed.

"Capitan, there is a river northeast of here. However, it is frozen," he reported. Maelstrom stood up and nodded slightly.

"Ice shouldn't be a problem for a ship like the _Sharkblood_. Dirty, tell Hangmun to steer towards the river, Skulldash, take this," said Maelstrom as he roughly shoved the healer fox towards Skulldash. Dirty saluted and ran off while Skulldash carried the complaining Snowmoon.

"Hey! Let go of me, you brute!" snarled Snowmoon as Skulldash walked off with her. Maelstrom smirked as continued to lean against the railing. Forget that idiotic badger and his mediocre army, Maelstrom was going to richer lands. He couldn't wait to end more meaningless lives.

_**Yeah, I had some Writer's block. Sorry. Also please review. I have only four reviews on this ten-so-far chapter fanfic while my three-so-far chapter Death Note fanfic has seven reviews. Soooo...Please review (-:**_


	11. Fire, Ice, and Premonitions

Sergeant Sapwood was patiently wandering the halls of Salamandastron. He heard large footsteps behind him and smiled.

"H'I see you've recovered, sah," said the hare. The badger lord walking behind him paused.

"I suppose you're right. What was the result of your search on the battlefield?" said Urthwyte. Sapwood blanched slightly.

"Sah, when we searched it, we found one of the bodies missing. It was Maelstrom's," the hare said ominously. Urthwyte growled.

"I should have finished him off, but I was weakened by that scoundrel's knife," he said. "Sapwood, I have a feeling that he'll be back. Send out some patrols, but be _extra _careful. We don't want what happened to Corporal Ivyvine to happen again," Sapwood saluted.

"Yes, sah!" said Sapwood. The hare began to run towards the barracks before turning his head. "Are you okay, sah?" he asked.

"I'm okay," Urthwyte yawned. "I'm just a tad sleepy. Maybe I'll take a quick nap. Please report back later," And at that, the badger lord walked off to his chamber. Sapwood wondered what visions the badger lord would see in his sleep. He hoped they would be of some help to Mossflower.

Pikkle and the Guosim shrews were getting ready for Traggler's plan. All along the river, stacks of wood were piled up, with trails of pine straw connecting them. Logalog looked around at the construction.

"Oi. Traggler, ole mate, are ye sure this'll work?" he asked the squirrel, who was perched in a nearby tree.

"Yessir! If this didn't work, them me ancestor wouldn't have been able to survive that winter. Now do you have the fire?" replied the squirrel. A shrew walked up holding a flaming torch. "Nice," said Traggler, nodding. "Now set the first two!" The shrew set fire to the nearest pile, then carefully ran across the ice and set fire to the other one. The piles were slowly burning, but the cold winds were beginning to dampen the flames.

"Quick! Pour some wine on them!" shouted Logalog. Another shrew ran over and poured wine on the smoldering wood. The flames burst and began to burn merrily. They soon followed the line of pine straw to the next pile and the next one, until all the piles were on fire. Everybeast began to cheer.

"Look! The ice is beginning to melt!" shouted one of the shrews. Pikkle grabbed a nearby paddle and pushed it against the ice. The ice shattered with ease.

"Traggler! Ye did mate! Now we'll be able to get to Redwall with ease, wot!" shouted the hare. The squirrel blushed and climbed down the tree as the Guosim began to put their log boats on the river.

Not to far away, Varka the wolverine looked up from eating a piece of daed flesh to see flames sprouting up upriver. Varka yelled and surprised and ran off to find his captain, who was calmly leaning on a nearby mast.

"Capitan! There's a big ole fire ahead!" cried the wolverine. Maelstrom calmly looked ahead.

"Ah, I see," the ermine said flatly. "I suppose we should dock and investigate," Maelstrom calmly walked over to Skulldash and Dirty. The two saluted. "I want you two to get Hangmun and investigate that fire," Maelstrom commanded them. Skulldash and Dirty obeyed.

"Geez, Capitan, do ye think they'll find sumthin' good?" asked Varka.

"Oh, I _know_ they'll find something that's at least interesting," replied Maelstrom, smirking. However, he did not know that if he just looked up, he would see that someone was watching.

The magpie scuttled on the branch it was perched on as it watched the foreign pirates. Clearly, it thought, these beasts would intrude upon its master's plans. The bird flew off, consciously avoiding the set fire. It flew towards the twisted oak searched within the branches. When it found the opening, it flew right in. The magpie fluttered through the cave's deep recesses until it found the throne room of the master. The strange beast extended a pure black arm for the magpie to land on. Nearby Shaggoth and Mrohon watched their master. The beast chuckled quietly as the magpie whispered in his ear before letting it go.

"It seems…" began the odd animal. "…that we will be having visitors. Beasts from a far away land have come to Mossflower. White beasts. Shaggoth, I want you to investigate these strange beings," Shaggoth uneasily bowed.

"Yes, Master," said the rat. He got up and walked out of the cave. The master turned to Mrohon and snarled:

"I hope those foreigners know what they'll be dealing with if they cross paths with the great Rex Nightmara!"

Urthwyte was having strange dreams. In them, he was standing on the battlefield where he defeated the ermine.

"Come to me, Maelstrom! You demon!" he snarled at the see. The sky began to darken. Urthwyte looked up in alarm. The sun was black, with only a thin light around the edges, but this light was so bright that it was blinding.

"Urthwyte, brother," said a voice. Urthwyte looked at where the voice was coming from. There stood a tall badger that looked almost identical to Urthwyte, but had normal badger coloring instead of being albino. Urthwyte had only seen this badger in life once, but he immediately knew that it was his dead brother, Urthstripe the Strong. Urthstripe smiled and held out a paw.

"Urthwyte, I wish we could have met in life, but now is not the time," he said. "A great evil is going to envelope Mossflower, and you are the only one who can stop it," Urthwyte looked at his brother.

"Is it Maelstrom?" he asked.

"Maelstrom is part of it, but there is another faction of evil, one that has been dormant since before the founding of Redwall," replied Urthstripe. "Now wake up, muster your hares and venture forth to Redwall," And at that the dream ended and Urthwyte woke up. The badger rose from his bed and looked out the window. He looked at the sun and saw that it was still yellow, but he knew it wouldn't be like that soon. He knew that he had to defeat Maelstrom.

_**This story now has OVER 300 views! That's pretty good! Lets celebrate with a Urthstripe cameo! Yeah! Anyway, you should totally review this, because reviews fill me with joy and happiness. :D**_


	12. Pure Evil

Dumble was beginning to wake up. He looked around. He was trapped in a cage, surrounded by a dark cavern that stank of mildew. Dumble tried to remember how he got trapped here. He remembered being grabbed into a sack, and some dark beast. The dormouse shrank back as he heard a beast enter the cavern. He could see the outline of a big rat with watery yellow eyes. The rat swaggered up to Dumble's cage.

"Well, now, aren't you a young one," the rat hissed. "The master always said that the younger they are, the better the sacrifice!"

"Shaggoth, stop taunting the captives and do what the master told you!" shouted another voice. The rat grimaced and scurried away from Dumble. The young dormouse sighed as he began to lie down in his cage. He felt one of the bars crumbling slightly. He began to think of a plan to escape.

Shaggoth jogged out of the cave and grinned. He looked around and saw the abbey in the distance. He decided to follow the path near the abbey. Those foolish woodlanders wouldn't even notice him. They would have to deal with the loss of their precious young one. And they would learn of the wrath of the Dark Kingdom.

All was quiet at Redwall abbey. Its inhabitants were going around doing their normal business, but they were all thinking about the fur tufts that were found. Samkin in particular was thinking especially hard about them. He was sitting on top of the abbey walls and musing about the situation. Why would a rat bother to sneak into the abbey and steal just one dibbun? It wasn't adding up. Samkin suddenly had an urge to look past the walls' parapets. He peeked over them and saw a black shape move across the path. Samin had to concentrate on the being before he realized what it was. The squirrel ran down the wall.

"It's a rat! There's a rat near the abbey!" he yelled.

Shaggoth looked at the abbey when he heard several sounds coming from it, mostly the shouts of various. The rat cursed inwardly when he saw a mob of woodlanders exit the building. He was about to sneak away when he saw one of them, a young squirrel, point at him and yell something. Shaggoth panicked and began to ran back to the cave's oak entrance. He was able to get there before the woodlanders could see him open the entrance and crawl in. Shaggoth felt a scratch and heard a tear, but ignored it when he went inside the cave.

Samkin doggedly followed the rat's footprints.

"Wuur, Sammykin, wait oop!" Arula called from behind him. Felldoh turned his head to see the mole run up to him followed by Mara and Thrugg.  
"Yeah, not all of us are as nimble as you, Samkin," joked Mara. Samkin halted and pointed at the footprints.

"I'm sorry," he said "But, I was trying to catch that rat. I think I've lost him. Found the prints, though," The squirrel and his companions continued to follow the prints. However, the prints disappeared suddenly.

"I've never seen anything like that," commented Thrugg. Mara picked something up from a nearby bush.

"Guys, look at this," she said. "It seems to be a piece of cloth," Samkin investigated the piece of cloth. It had a picture of a snake in.

"Wurr oi! Oi founds another tuft!" shouted Arula as she ran other to the others.

"Hmmm, if that piece is so close to that fur tuft, which is obviously belongs to that rat, then this cloth must come from the rat's clothes!" said Samkin. Mara inspected the piece.

"Wait, I think I've seen that snake symbol somewhere. We need to get to the recorder's room," said the badger.

Glallic was a tall weasel, the leader of a four-strong vermin band. He grunted in disgust at the slim pickings gathered by his followers. The winter had really taken a dent on the amount of travelers to steal from. The weasel walked up to a scrawny rat carrying the carcass of an emaciated woodpigeon.

"Whaddaya think yer doin', Sicktooth? I told ye to get some food, not more firewood!" said Glallic, laughing at his own joke. Nearby, Sicktooth's mate Notail scoffed at her leader.

"Like yew could do better, ye overgrown slug," she said.

"Who're yew callin' a slug, rotface?!" snarled Glallic.

"Can't we all git along?" moaned Shatron, a fox. "We should just accept what li'l food we 'ave," Glallic slapped the fox.

"Shaddap, yew!" he growled.

"You shouldn't slap your associates when they suggest good ideas," a voice behind Glallic muttered. The weasel turned around, pulling out a sword from his belt, and came face to face with Maelstrom.

"Oh, so some 'opped up freak innerferes with me an' my band's business, huh? Shove off!" Glallic snarled.

"I'm sorry. I was just passing through. Would any of you fine beasts of any good place to plunder? I'd be willing to split some of the payoff," replied Maelstrom.

"I don't trust this guy," said Shatron quietly. Glallic glared at the fox.

"'Course we know a place ta plunder!" he exclaimed to Maelstrom. "There's a path, an' if ye follow it, ye'll reach dis place called Redwall. Big ol' buildin', fulla plunder," whispered Glallic into Maelstrom's ear. The ermine nodded.

"Good," he said. "But now my crew and I will be taking care of you," They were surrounded by Maelstrom's crew members. "Don't worry, I assure you that you'll be well-fed," said the ermine as his crew led the dazed vermin band to the _Sharkblood. _Maelstrom thought about what the weasel said. _Redwall_. He liked that name. It sounded like a good place to massacre. _Yes_, thought Maelstrom, smirking. _Redwall._

**_So, I have something big coming up, so I won't be able to update this fic or my other one. But still, please review!_**


	13. Research

Samkin, Arula, Mara and Thrugg rushed into the abbey's recorder's office. There had been no official recorder since Brother Hal died, so there had to be a rotation of those who took care of the office, a job which Mara often volunteered for. The badger rummaged through the dusty bookshelf until she found a very worn looking book with a red bark cover. The cover showed a stylized image of a snake coiled into a diamond. Samkin held up the clothe scrap up to the book cover. The images on them were a perfect match.

"Mara, how did you know about this book," asked Samkin.

"When I was cleaning these books, I came across this one. The cover intrigued me so much that I had to look inside," replied Mara, opening the book up. "But it really grabbed my attention when I saw who wrote it," Samkin looked at it.

"Martin the Warrior himself wrote this?" he asked. Mara nodded.

"Eh, this snake thing must be important if ol' Martin himself would write about," commented Thrugg. Mara sat down and began to read out loud as the others crowded around her.

"'Soon after we overthrew the wildcats, a strange old vole wandered up to where we were beginning to build the abbey. I don't truly know what had happened to him, but whatever happened had driven him almost completely insane. Germaine took pity on the poor beast and let him stay around. This vole would often ramble about something called the "Dark Kingdom" for hours on end; he wouldn't even give his own name. But Germaine kept taking care of him. She once asked him to explain more about this "Dark Kingdom". He said it was a place of evil that existed underground and was filled with vermin. Apparently, it was ruled by entities that called themselves the "Dream Foxes", who allegedly came from across the sea. He then drew the symbol found on this book's cover. I was about to ask him where this "Dark Kingdom" was, but he died before I could.'"

"'Soon after, something very strange happened. A stoat wearing clothes that bore the symbol was caught trying to steal one of the dibbuns. We captured him and began to interrogate him. He said that he was trying to get a sacrifice for his master for a ritual that would herald the coming of the "Black Sun". I asked him what that was, and he told me he would tell me tomorrow. We left him over night in what would later become the abbey infirmary. The next day, we found that he had killed himself overnight. We gave him a burial in a nearby ditch. A week later, when we were raising up some of the walls, an odd occurrence happened. In the middle of the day, the sky went dark. When I looked at the sun, I saw that it had been blocked out by a strange black mass. This incident to a few minutes before the mass moved out of the way of the sun and the sky was bright again'"

"What an odd story," commented Samkin.

"Wurr, so iffen those beasts kidnapped a liddle 'un, then that means a Blacken Sun must be happenin' soon," said Arula. Mara nodded grimly.

"If that's true, then Dumble, and perhaps the entire abbey, might be in trouble,"

The _Sharkblood _was swiftly heading toward the direction of Redwall abbey. The fire had cleared out the ice for miles. Maelstrom was lounging on the ship's figure head. Dirty walked up to his captain.

"Capitan, some oh teh crew have been seein' some sort of log boat group. Do ye think they might cause some trouble?" he asked.

"Log boats? If they do try to mess with us, then we can wipe them out easily," replied Maelstrom. "Besides, I know that's not what you came to me for," Dirty gulped.

"Yessir. I was just wonderin' if yor sure about attackin' this abbey. I mean, we 'aven't been 'round this country fer long, 'ow do we know these beast ain't as tough as those mountain beasts?" asked Dirty. Maelstrom considered the question for a moment.

"I suppose you have a point. However, we would have won that mountain battle if not for Icefang and that mouse screwing the plan up. Besides, it's an abbey, those are always filled with peaceful beast who lead comfortable lives and never have to lift up a sword,' replied Maelstrom. "How could a bunch of coddled monks face a crew like us?"

"What if their like that group you were a part of?" asked Dirty. "What were they called? Teh "Order of the Hell Cross?" Maelstrom smirked.

"Dirty, you should know that a group like that the Order could only exist in the Land of Ice and Snow. A comfortable place like this would never have such a group," said he said. A white fox ran up to the two ermine.

"Capitan!" he yelled. "We've spotted shrew settlements 'round the river!"

Shaggoth prayed silently all the way down the cavern. Would his master be angry that he messed up his mission? Certainly he would be forgiven, right? The rat reached the throne room. His master was sitting on his throne, breathing heavily.

"That was quick, Shaggoth. Did you find out about our visitors," asked Nightmara.

"Uh, well, I…," stuttered Shaggoth.

"What happened to your snake, Shaggoth? Did you rip it off? Did you lose it? You weren't able to spy on them, were you?" snarled Nightmara. Shaggoth looked down dejectedly.

"Yes, master, I was spotted by the abbey dwellers," he said. Nightmara leaped down from his throne and walked up to Shaggoth. The rat looked up. Hs master was a tall fox, with fur as black as night, clad in a dark cloak and atunic made of leather, chainmail, and green cloth. His front fangs were long and dagger-like.

"Don't worry, Shaggoth, I won't harm you," said Nightmara as he removed his goggles. His eyes were a very vibrant blue, which was flecked with red and green. "In fact, I want to give you a reward for your bravery," he continued. Shaggoth stared into his master's eyes. He felt paralyzed, but somehow comfortable. Nightmara produced a necklace from his cape. "Take this, Shaggoth," he whispered as he put it on the rat's neck.

"Thank you, master," muttered Shaggoth.

"Here, let me tighten it for you," said Nightmara. He tugged harshly on the necklace. Shaggoth gasped and grabbed at the back of is neck before falling over dead. The necklace had three poisoned spikes in the back. Nearby, Mrohon walked up to Nightmara.

"Master, we have reports that these invaders are getting closer to the abbey," said Mrohon, looking warily at Shaggoth's corpse. Rex Nightmara put his goggles back on.

"Fascinating," he mused.

_**Aaaaaaaaannndd it's back! Yeah! So what is Nightmara's plan? What does the Black Sun mean? What will happen when all these different parties come face to face? Find out and please review!**_


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